He had probably used that line about his mother with a hundred other people before me. I was just his latest conquest.
I felt tears spring up in my eyes, but I fought them back. I was not going to be the kind of girl who cries about some idiot guy. I was pissed; I wasn’t upset. I hurried out of the student center and made a beeline toward home.
I needed to put as much distance between myself and Noah as possible.
Chapter Nine
I slammed the door of my apartment and sat down on the couch with a huff. I stared at the television, my mind buzzing with anger and confusion. Noah had always been a jerk, yes, and a pervert, but he hadn’t been a liar. His father may have been a genuinely bad person, but I was trying to give Noah the benefit of the doubt. Instead, he had broken my trust, and lied to me when I had asked him a direct question.
Chris walked tentatively into the room.
“How was work?” she asked me.
I gave her a look, and rolled over onto my side.
“That bad, huh?” She came over and sat down at my feet. I stretch out, putting them in her lap. “What happened?”
“He fucking lied to me, Chris.” I wanted to say more, but I knew I should keep it short and sweet or else get bogged down explaining exactly how and why Noah Carterson is the biggest shit-head in the world.
She looked surprised. “That’s a big deal. What did he lie about?”
I let out an exasperated sight. “You know how my mom and his dad are in some weird feud, or at least they used to be?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Well, I had asked him about our parents, like a week ago, and he acted like he didn’t know anything. Then tonight, we were sitting in the theater after cleaning it, talking about our parents, and I mentioned it to him again. And you know what he does? He says he knew, then he kisses me!”
I was boiling over with rage. How dare he lie right to my face, and then give me one of the hottest moments of my life? I wanted to run my tongue along his rock hard abs and kick him in the face. I was a mess of lust, anger, and betrayal, and none of them seemed to be winning out over the others.
“Hold on. He kissed you?”
“Yeah, he kissed me, but that’s not the point. He lied to me!”
She laughed and I gave her a pissed look. “I know Linda, but holy shit. He kissed you.”
I sat up and stared at her. “Are you even listening?”
“I mean, I’m not into the whole dating bullshit, but I would definitely let that man do some things to me.”
“Are you joking right now?”
“Only a little bit.”
I collapsed back down, grumbling.
“Look, there might be a good reason,” she said. “Or maybe he didn’t understand your question. Or maybe you misunderstood what he said.”
“Why are you defending him?”
“Because he kissed you, and you’ve been basically pining after him like a teenager since you first saw him.”
“Chris, forget about the kiss. He lied to me.”
She nodded, suddenly looking serious. “He did lie to you. Did you ask him about it?”
“No, I had to get out of there.”
“Linda, confront him.”
“I can’t do that. I’m afraid I’d hit him or something.”
“So what? He’s a big boy.”
I imagined smacking him over and over, and him just grinning at me. Obviously, in that scenario, he was shirtless and sweating very slightly.
What was I going to do?
“No, I can’t. He treated me like I was another one of his conquests. I’m not giving him the satisfaction.”
“Look, you can’t know what’s going to happen unless you talk to him.”
“I’m way too embarrassed for that right now.”
“Why? It’s not like you did anything.”
“Uh, well,” I said, looking awkward.
“You didn’t scream at him, did you?”
“No, nothing like that. We just, had a date, I guess.”
“What do you mean, a date?”
“He asked if I wanted to go with him to the diner after work.”
“And you said yes, obviously.”
“Yeah, but then I realized he had lied to me, and I got out of there as fast as I could.”
She nodded, thoughtful. “So you disappeared on him right after making out with him and agreeing to go on a date.”
“Yeah, that about sums it up.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Nice mess you got yourself into.”
I groaned and covered my head with a pillow.
“Hiding won’t help fix anything,” she said, patting my ankles.
“Unless I hide forever.”
“Well, you can’t do that.” She stood up and stretched.